Deloitte: Thought Leadership

The Deloitte NWE End of Year Review 2014 was released on 15 January 2015, reporting on exploration and appraisal drilling, licensing and deal activity, field development approvals across North West Europe over the past year.

Crude Awakening – The Impact of Plummeting Crude Oil Prices on Company Finances

What has caused the sudden fall in oil price? What effect will this have on the industry? Who will be the winners and who will be the losers? Our recent article provides a view of the impact the plummeting crude oil price will have on company finances.

Tender for oil and gas exploration in deep waters of the Black Sea

The Bulgarian Council of Ministries opened a tender for oil and natural gas exploration in two areas, 1-14 Silistar block (6,893 square kilometres) and 1-22 Teres block (4,032 square kilometres), which area situated in Bulgaria’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea.

First International Offshore Croatian Licensing Round 2014 awards

The Croatian Government has announced the award of 10 of the 29 blocks offered in the First International Offshore Croatian Licensing Round, following the round closure in November 2014. All of the blocks offered were located in the Adriatic Sea.

The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB) has announced the results of sales NL13-01, NL13-02 and NL14-01. The sales offered a total of six parcels, in which three received acceptable bids.

Liberia Basin Competitive Bid Round 2014 – Awards

The National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) announced the opening of the Liberia Basin Competitive Bid Round 2014 on 5 August 2014.

NOCAL offered four blocks: LB-06, LB-07, LB-16, and LB-17 with a total area of over 12,600 square kilometres.

NOCAL announced on 17 December 2014 that it had submitted to the Legislature for ratification of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) covering block LB-16. This is the first of the four blocks to be awarded in the 2014 bid round.

Mexico announces launch of Round One for Shallow Water Areas

The Mexican National Hydrocarbons Commission (CNH) announced, in December 2014, the opening of the first phase of the Round One call for bids as well as the bidding conditions.
The first phase covers only the exploration blocks within the shallow waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Norway announces blocks offered in 23rd Licensing Round

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, on 20 January 2015, announced the 23rd Norwegian Licensing Round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Fifty-seven blocks/part blocks are being announced in this round, of which three are in the Norwegian Sea and 54 in the Barents Sea.

The application deadline is 12:00 (GMT+1) on 2 December 2015. The Government aims to award new production licences in the first half of 2016.

Norwegian block offers announced in Awards in Pre-Defined Areas 2014

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) announced, on 20 January 2015, that offers will be issued to 43 companies for 54 new production licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The offers have been issued following the evaluation of applications from 47 companies in the Awards in Pre-defined Areas (APA) 2014.

Peru 2015 International Bidding Round launched

Perupetro, the Hydrocarbons Regulatory Company of Peru, announced the launch of the Peru 2015 International Bidding Round on the 15 December 2014. The Round will offer seven blocks for production and exploration licence contracts.

Perupetro announces results of Peru 2014 International Bidding Round

Perupetro, the Hydrocarbons Regulatory Company of Peru, announced the results of the International Bidding Round for Blocks III and IV, located in the Talara Basin in northwest Peru, on 12 December 2014.

SEC 2015 is being hosted at the Fairmount Hotel, Singapore on 14-17 April 2015.

This event will provide an effective opportunity to meet with senior executives from most of the Oil & Gas companies already operating within Asia Pacific, in addition to companies that are seeking to invest in the region.

As mining companies – in Australia and around the world – continue to grapple with challenging market conditions, they need to drive productivity, embrace innovation, and get more adept at balancing short-term investor expectations with long-term business imperatives.

Price volatility, geopolitical turmoil, rising costs, declining grades and a general lack of financing will make this year another one of challenges, but also opportunities, for the sector, according to Deloitte’s Tracking the Trends 2015 report.

Now in its seventh year, Tracking the Trends takes a global look at the pressing trends facing miners in the year ahead, and offers strategies they can employ to adapt to changing industry dynamics. Read more…

The North Sea needs continued investment from businesses and government through its current period of transition, according to a new report from Deloitte, the business advisory firm.

Deloitte’s Petroleum Services Group’s latest North West Europe Review, which details drilling, licensing, and deal activity across the region for the whole of 2014, follows a year of change on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS), along with volatility in commodity prices over the last five months.

The report found that 40 wells were drilled offshore UK throughout the year. This is down on the 50 wells reported in 2013 but largely consistent with expectations given recent trends and market conditions. Read more…

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR), Division of Oil and Gas (DO&G), has announced the offering of state lands for competitive oil and gas leasing in the Beaufort Sea Areawide (BS 20114W), North Slope Areawide (NS 2014W) and North Slope Foothills Areawide (FH 2014) Lease sales which took place on the 17 November 2014.

Australian proposed Offshore Petroleum Acreage Release 2015

On 9 December 2014, the Department of Industry within the Australian Government released 28 proposed areas for the 2015 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release, spanning across 7 basins. Release areas will be finalised when the Minister for Industry, Hon Ian Macfarlane, announces the commencement of the 2015 Acreage Release during the APPEA conference on 18 May 2015.

The full list of proposed areas offered can be found by clicking on the link below.

New Zealand 2014 Block Offer results

The New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals Division, within the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, has released the results of the 2014 Block Offer. A total of 15 exploration permits were awarded of which 9 are offshore.

Nadra Ukrayny 20th Open Competition results

The Ukrainian National Joint-Stock Company Nadra Ukrayny held the 20th Open Competition to attract investors to finance search, exploration and other activities in the licence areas of the company and its subsidiaries.

The bidding took place on 30 September 2014 and 12 hydrocarbon permits were offered for bid with 4 permits were awarded.

Nadra Ukrayny announces the 21st, 22nd and 23rd Open Competition

The Ukrainian National Joint-Stock Company Nadra Ukrayny, on the basis of decisions taken by the Board, announced in November 2014 a further three tenders for three different onshore hydrocarbon areas. This is with the aim to attract investors to conduct prospecting, exploration, mining and other activities at special subsoil permits which belong to subsidiaries of Nadra Ukrayny.

The closing dates for submission of applications was 4, 9 and 10 December 2014, for 21st, 22nd and 23rd Open Competition, respectively.

Thailand

The Thailand Ministry of Energy launched the 21st Petroleum Bidding Round on 21 October 2014. 29 blocks comprising of 23 onshore and 6 offshore blocks have been offered in the round. Of the 23 onshore blocks 17 are located in the Northeast Region and the remaining 6 blocks are located in the North and Central regions.

Gulf of Mexico

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced the Proposed Notice of Sale for the Central Planning Area (CPA) Oil and Gas Lease Sale 235. The sale is scheduled to take place in March 2015 in New Orleans, LA and will be the seventh sale under the 2012-2017 Five-Year Program.

Australia

The official Australia Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release for 2013 commenced in May 2013. A total of 31 blocks were released as part of the federal offering, spanning 6 basins, with the majority located offshore Western Australia in Commonwealth waters. In addition, four areas from the 2012 Acreage Release were re-released for bidding.

North Sea

On 6 November 2014, a total of 134 licences have been offered by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) covering 252 blocks across the North Sea. A further 94 blocks are currently under environmental assessment which will have to be completed before any offer is made.

Companies operating in the North Sea require a cultural shift to make the most of the its potential, according to a new report from Deloitte, the business advisory firm.

The report, which gauges the oil and gas industry’s reaction to Sir Ian Wood’s Maximising Recovery Review, calls on the new regulator – the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), the Government and companies operating in the North Sea to adapt to a new reality in the basin. Read more…

On 28 January, Staatsolie, the National Oil Company (NOC) of Suriname, released the Invitation to the 5th International Bidding Round which includes all the information that interested companies need to know to prepare and submit their proposals.

The International Oil Companies (IOC’s) looking to participate in the 5th International Bidding Round must submit a formal offer by 26 July 2013.

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation offered two new blocks for exploration and production in December 2012. The Abanovskiy and Nekrasovskiy are both located within the Sakhalin region.

The Myanmar Ministry of Energy (MOE),on behalf of the Myanmar Government, announced an invitation for sealed bids for the Myanmar Onshore Blocks Second Bidding Round – 2013 on 17 January 2013.

The Round offers onshore blocks for Petroleum Operations to be conducted on a production sharing basis. All interested parties are invited to submit their “Letter of Expression of Interest” no later than 16 March 2013 (two months from the date of the announcement). A total of 18 onshore areas are offered, 15 Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) and 3 Improved Petroleum Recovery Contracts (IPR).

Cameroon has launched a new licensing round which incorporates onshore and offshore blocks in previously explored and frontier regions. The National Hydrocarbons Corporation, Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), announced that the new round, effective from 14 January 2013, includes five exploration blocks from three areas; Lungahe, Bomana and Dissoni in the Rio del Rey Basin, Kombe-Nsepe in the Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin, and Manyu in the Mamfe Basin.

Despite long delays, the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (Agência Nacional do Petróleo – ANP) officially released the Preliminary Tender Protocol of the hotly awaited 11th Brazilian Licensing Round. After a four years hiatus in bidding rounds, the 11th Brazilian Licensing Round is expected to put Brazil back on the map of international bidding rounds, providing promising new frontier exploratory areas for offer.

On 11 January 2013 an initial 172 blocks were authorised for auction under the Brazilian 11th Licensing Round, by the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. It is expected that a further 117 exploration blocks will be added to auction subject to the approval of the Energy Policy Council (Conselho de Política Energética – CNPE).

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR), Division of Oil and Gas (DO&G), has announced a Lease Sale in the Cook Inlet, scheduled for 8 May 2013.

The sale covers an area of approximately 4 million acres divided into 815 tracts ranging in size from 35 to 5,760 acres. All leases will carry an initial primary term of 10 years, with the rental rate per acre to rise in the 8th – 10th year unless there is sustained production.

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs of Trinidad & Tobago (MEEA) officially released the results of the deepwater bid round that concluded on 4 September 2012. The closure date was moved back from the original 30 July 2012 closing date. All of the blocks were offered under Production Sharing Contracts.

The Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (Agência Nacional do Petróleo – ANP) 11th Bid Round was authorised by the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, on 10 January 2013, with the round expected to be launched by May 2013.

ANP will offer 172 exploratory blocks, covering a total of 121,199.15sqkm, divided into 17 sectors within nine sedimentary basins.